After numerous reboots, reworkings and re-doings, Princess Diana received a creative team with the new DC 52 reboot that wanted to change the character to appeal to today’s modern audience. Brian Azzarello, writer, and Cliff Chiang, artist are writing what’s more a horror storyline, cherry-picking from various Greek myths to provide supernatural horror. Until issue #7, it’s a story that’s gained widespread support, despite worries about some changes to Diana’s origin.

Diana’s origin since the beginning has been that she was clay molded at the hands of her loving mother, given life by the gods, and raised by the Amazons of Paradise Island to live up to the ideals of truth and freedom. (The Amazons having fled to the island in ancient times when they were cruelly abused by men.)

Not anymore.

Diana is now another illegitimate offspring of the god Zeus via a liaison with Queen Hippolyta of the Amazons, a fact which her mother kept from Diana all her life. It seems that’s not the only secret the Amazons have been keeping. In the just released #7 issue of her new series, it’s revealed that far from being dedicated to the ideals of peace and freedom, the Amazons are instead the worst embodiments of the stereotype of feminazis.

Did DC just take a peaceful society of all-women (many of them queer) who are dedicated to the truth and betterment of life and turn them into mass murderers and child slavers?

Yes. Yes, they did.

The Amazons keep the girl babies that result from these assaults, and the boy children are sold off to a god for slave labor. They were going to murder the boys but, hey, the gods gave them weapons in exchange for the babies.

Do I think the creators of this book are deliberately trying to downgrade Wonder Woman and her origin and what it means to many women? No, I don’t think so at all. Many times, Brian Azzarello has stated that he wanted to write a horror story using Wonder Woman and that’s exactly what he’s doing.

I don’t think he saw how problematic it was, especially in our current political environment when a woman who speaks up for access to birth control to control cancer is called a “slut.”

Here are the Amazons, who are supposed to represent the best of their gender, now changed into man-hating mass murderers. To say nothing of the fact that Wonder Woman is also viewed as a gay icon and now the biggest group of fictional lesbians are basically evil.

I think it was blindness to the history of what Wonder Woman means to many women, especially to geek girls, and general cluelessness on the part of editorial who approved it. Added to that some of the other problems with the DC reboot that I’ve talked about over on GeekDad and last year on GeekMom, and it’s frustrating as heck.

I love superheroes. I love superhero comics. I want to buy more. There are lots of women like me. And yet DC Comics as a whole–there are a few titles that are exceptions– seems to want to actively drive me away.

Which puzzles me to no end. Women are a huge segment of the market and they’re not just being ignored, they’re being actively driven away.

As Nina Jacobson, the producer of The Hunger Games, said in an interview here just yesterday, “Anyone who underestimates the power of girls in the marketplaces does so at their peril.”

I recently helped with hosting a much less traditional baby shower for my friend, who happens to be a geek like me. If you’re new to the whole baby shower thing, or you’re looking for ideas for your nerdy gal pals, here are a few how-tos for throwing a baby shower with a Wonder Woman theme.

Choosing the Theme

Wonder Woman Diaper Cake / Photo: Kelly Knox

The best advice I can give for choosing a theme is thinking of what the mommy-to-be might like. Although she is geeky, that doesn’t mean any of her friends and family who might be attending are geeky as well. Even if Luke Skywalker is the love of her life, your friend might not mind if her baby shower is not Star Wars themed. In fact, my shower was a charming “sugar and spice” theme with pink and brown to match our nursery décor. I loved it.

While we were tossing around ideas for my friend’s shower, though, I couldn’t picture a pink flowers or butterflies theme for her, so I suggested a Wonder Woman theme. I thought it could be stretched into a “Wonder Mom” shower rather easily. My co-hostesses agreed and we started on our red, yellow, and blue baby shower.

Diaper Cake

Ah, the diaper cake – two words I never knew went together until I saw one at my baby shower. A diaper cake is simply a fun way to give the mommy-to-be some diapers and add a little decoration to the party.

I have to say, because of the Wonder Woman theme, I was champing at the bit to make the cake. I finished weeks in advance. The first time I made one for a different baby shower, though, my husband and I put it together the night before. It’s not particularly time-consuming once you have a plan. Here is how I tackle a diaper cake.

You will need:

At least two packages (or one box) of newborn diapers

Rubber bands

Cake stand or plate

Ribbon

Small gifts to fit inside the bottom “cake layer” and top of the cake

Lollipop sticks

Stickers or pictures

Patience to catch the diapers rolling off the table until you get them secured

I started my planning first by looking for Wonder Woman toys appropriate for small children. I could not resist this Funko Wonder Woman Plushie. There’s also an adorable book, My First Wonder Woman Book, which I used inside the cake. Fisher Price also has some new Wonder Woman Little People toys, like a figurine paired with Batgirl, Wonder Woman driving a little car, and Wonder Woman and her invisible jet. Any of those would also be great for a diaper cake! Browse online and at your toy store for ideas before you get started, and the cake will take shape in your imagination.

When it is time to put the diaper cake together, the first step is rolling up the diapers. The cake looks a little more uniform if you roll the diapers the same way; I like to roll them from the opening to the bottom, with the picture on the tab strip facing up so that it isn’t visible on the rolled diaper. Secure the rolled diaper with a rubber band around the middle.

Next, I place the small gift (the book in this case) in the middle of the cake stand or plate, and arrange the rolled diaper around it until the rolls make a circle for the bottom layer.

Bottom layer in progress / Image: Kelly Knox

I use a wide ribbon secured by tape or glue dots to hold the diapers together in that shape. Build the next two layers in the same manner, each slightly smaller than the one below. I used two packages of 36 diapers for the Wonder Woman cake, but I really should have gone with a box of 80 or more for more robust layers.

Obviously, there are no rules for how to decorate the cake. The middle layer can be used for a letter (B for baby, for example), another gift, or something similar. I printed the Wonder Woman logo for the middle layer. For the top layer, I squeezed in the Funko doll because it is so dang adorable. I like to use stickers on lollipop sticks as additional decorations; the sticks fit snugly inside the rolled up diapers and add more color to the cake. You can also squish some tulle in there, or even find some holiday decorations that happen to fit the color theme. The red streamers that I used in the diaper cake were originally Valentine’s Day decorations.

The diaper cake usually goes in the middle of a table somewhere at the shower, so make sure that the cake is presentable from all angles.

Baby Shower Games

For shower games, which I am not a huge fan of to begin with, we tried to keep it short and sweet with minimal embarrassment for all. We went with “traditional” baby shower games without making them Wonder Woman themed: guess the baby item in the bag, purse scavenger hunt, things like that. I recommend consulting our mutual friend Google for baby shower games that appeal to you the most. Adding a geeky twist to most traditional games shouldn’t be too difficult.

Wonder Words (Baby Tips) / Photo: Kelly Knox

As another guest activity, we set out a container for baby tips for the mommy-to-be. I also had a collection of tips gathered at my shower, and I still look through them from time to time. Your guests can share their experiences and best tips, and the mom has them all in one convenient place. I decorated the tips jar in a Wonder Woman theme to fit the shower.

Decorations

Stars, stars, stars! Wonder Woman’s tiara is adorned with a red star, and that became the main theme of our decorations. I created a banner with paper stars (found at the hobby store) and die-cut letters I ordered from Etsy. They look nicer than anything I could try to make and they aren’t terribly expensive.

We didn’t have a Wonder Woman theme to our food, although I did make a sweet fruit dip served with strawberries and apples to stick with the red theme. This is a simple recipe given to me by my mother-in-law, so I’m not sure where it originated, but I love to make it for gatherings.

The two corners of the Lego booth, with very different offerings. Photo: Amy Kraft

Toy Fair, New York: I crankily elbowed my way through the crowds to get to my first appointment of the show. I wasn’t cranky because of the crowds. I was cranky thinking about what I was about to see, Lego. Haters gonna hate, and I’ve been hating the new Lego Friends. I expected it to be the cornerstone of what they were about to show me.

I’ve written a bit about this dislike for the new Lego-for-girls, and GeekMom Kay’s recent post summed up my dismay perfectly. I dig new colors for the bricks. I’m all for accessories. But then they gave the minifigs curves and boobs. The building seems completely secondary to the pretend play experience. The playing down of the building aspect is even further emphasized when they’re shelved with dolls and not with Lego as they are at our local Target. And what if boys want to play with them? The marketing makes it very clear that these are for girly girls only. My 6-year-old daughter put it best: “Those don’t really seem like Legos.”

To all the internet commenters and tweeters who dismiss this as an overreaction, I invite you to walk the floor of Toy Fair to get a nice, full picture of the marketing of products to boys and girls. Girls are princesses and boys are violent war machines, with so little variation on those themes. I wanted better from Lego.

Turns out, Lego had better in store for me. The Lego showroom was strategically laid out to see Lego Friends last, and I’m glad for that. The first thing I saw when I walked in was the Duplo Pink Brick Box. On the box was a boy and a girl. Hey kids, you both can like different colors! (I’m so sad I can’t show you a picture of this as it wasn’t final packaging. I hope they keep it as I saw it.) So, Lego and I got off to a good start.

Then I started to notice some details around the showroom. Girls. Lots of them. When I saw Lego Friends I wondered why they didn’t just make pink houses with classic minifigs. Well, turns out they’re making those, too. A fine girly choice for those of us who hate the new minifigs.

Lego Pink Brick Box. Photo: Amy Kraft

O hai, lady paleontologist!

Toys from the Dino line. Photo: Amy Kraft

Days before I was introduced to Lego Friends, I was lamenting on Twitter that we had opened the last of our City Advent Calendar and there was not a single female minifig. My daughter was so disappointed. [ADVENT SPOILER!] This year’s advent calendar has not one, but count ‘em, two girl minifigs. And they’re actually in on the action, not sitting by the sidelines.

Some of the minifigs from this year's city advent calendar. Photo: Amy Kraft

Nothing is going to separate me from my money faster than the new Monster Fighters line. There’s a lady vamp plus someone who resembles a certain vampire slayer. (Wouldn’t that be an awesome licensing deal?)

The living quarters of Vampire Castle. Photo: Amy Kraft

Also, you may have noticed a GeekMom favorite made from Lego at the top of this post. Yes, folks, there is a wonderful Wonder Woman minifig. There’s a whole new Super Hero line, featuring both DC and Marvel heroes. Imagine the mix and match possibilities! Lego said they can’t encourage the mixing of the brands, but we sure can. I’m ready to mix Black Widow into just about every Lego set.

Avengers! Photo: Amy Kraft

I was in such high spirits at this point, not to mention getting a look at the cool Ninjago, Star Wars, and Lord of the Rings sets, that by the time we got to Lego Friends I didn’t even hate them anymore. I still think there’s less building represented in these sets, with more emphasis on accessories, but if there are kids out there who want them, so be it. In fact, Lego says that these are doing exceptionally well, with stores expanding their footprint on store shelves.

Heartlake Dog Show, from the Lego Friends line. Photo: Amy Kraft

There is a stubbly manfig in the line, the grillmaster at Olivia’s house. Dad is whipping up some dinner while Mom mows the lawn.

Olivia's House, with mom and dad. Photo: Amy Kraft

I was talking to another blogger who is a fan of the Lego Friends line, saying that she wants her daughter building but hasn’t found any other sets that appeal to her in the way that this line does. I can live with that. I’ll continue to hate the commercial, though.

You wouldn’t know it from their marketing, but Lego has something to appeal to just about every kind of builder.

Stephanie Piña, of the blog Pre-Raphaelite Sisterhood writes about the strength and inspiration she finds in the image of Wonder Woman. It’s an incredibly moving and inspiring post, one that serves to illustrate the power of feminine icons to inspire the generations that grow up with them.

Stephanie writes:

“Today we are a family dealing with struggles. Physical, financial, the general stress involved with situations like these. My paper cup bracelets aren’t going to help, but the spirit behind those bracelets still swells within me. Did you know Wonder Woman’s bracelets are made by a metal called Feminum? Tell me that is not absolutely awesome.”

Tired of those boring white earbuds? For the super hero geek that has everything, check out the coolest ear buds ever at ThinkGeek! Whether your geek likes Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, or any of the other heroes offered, these are a must have!

I’ve been reading superheroes since they were on the spinner rack but I’ve discovered as an adult that my beginning didn’t even begin to tap the history of superhero comics. It wasn’t until I read about Fredric Wertham and his crusade against comics as a teenager that I even knew why that little Comics Code seal was on every comic I read.

I even assumed that the lack of female characters in my comics were the status quo, that they’d always been small in number because of the sexism of the times.

Mike Madrid’s new book, Supergirls, makes it clear that isn’t so at all.

There were many, many female characters in the Golden Age comics. One of the great joys of reading his book is getting a short history of all of them. The other is Madrid’s clear love of these heroines. The book is a fast, enjoyable read and could even be read with the DC Comics Covergirls coffee table book at your side. Supergirls supplies a lot of much-needed context to the coffee table book.

After reading Supergirls, I went over to Madrid’s website for more information and found this nifty visual guide. I got lost in there until my kids pulled me away.

After, I realized I had some questions for him about the book and comics in general and he was more than happy to answers my questions.

GeekMom: What kinds of differences did you see in the portrayal of Supergirls over the years?

Madrid: I think most people would assume that women’s roles would have been more limited in the early days of comics. But looking back, I found that so many of those heroines of the 1940′s were actually smart, daring, powerful, and often independent.

It was in the 50′s and 60′s that women were portrayed as weaker and more focused on love and pleasing a man than on fighting crime. Heroines of the 70′s became stronger as a reflection of the women’s liberation movement, and in a sense got back to their roots from Golden Age comics.

I also noticed comics of the 1980′s became targeted much more towards an older reader. And that was when the portrayal of women became even more sexualized than before, reaching a high (or low) point in the 90′s.

GM: Who was your absolute favorite of everyone that you researched?

Madrid: I have so many favorites. I liked rediscovering some of these heroines who I may have forgotten about, like Elasti-Girl of the Doom Patrol. In rereading some of those stories I saw that she was actually ahead of her time in terms of being more powerful than the men on her team, smart, and independent. And despite being called “Girl”, she was portrayed as a sophisticated, adult woman who was an equal to her male peers. And I liked that she had a wry sense of humor, which is often rare in the portrayal of these heroines. So I liked being able to spotlight a character like Elasti-Girl who may have been overlooked over the passage of time.

GM: To use an example, Black Canary went from judo artist to canary cry, to it being revealed she was actually the mother’s brain in the clone of her daughter’s, to being fully retconned as two people: Dinah Drake Lance who died of cancer and Dinah Laurel Lance, the current Black Canary. It’s so unusual to see a female hero take up her mother’s legacy—any thoughts on why that is?

Madrid: It is unusual for a heroine to take up her mother’s legacy. With the exception of Wonder Woman, we don’t see that many of these female heroes having relationships, good or bad, with their mothers.

Another thing that comics have pretty much overlooked is the idea of the woman hero as mentor. So many of these male heroes have young sidekicks whom they train to fight crime-Batman and Robin, Captain America and Bucky, Flash and Kid Flash, Green Arrow and Speedy, etc. With the exception of Wonder Woman and Batwoman, very few of these superheroines had a young assistant. So we didn’t read many stories where the adult woman passes her wisdom and experience down to a younger heroine.

That idea of a woman as a leader and teacher was largely ignored.

GM: Are you still reading a lot of comics right now? Where do you think they’re going? Why do you think the marketers keep targeting the same male audience instead of expanding? Or do you disagree that they’re not, at least in the comics?

Madrid: As much as the Big two publishers say that they want to attract female readers, they’re going to go where the money is. So their focus is going to be on males. My major dissatisfaction with current comics is that there seems to be so little emphasis on the story. The six issue policy geared towards trade paperbacks is really hurting the quality of comics, in my opinion.

I’ve said that this DC Comics New 52 relaunch has been like a nicotine patch to get me to cut down on my comics consumption. I understand why the industry needs to update these characters to make them more appealing to younger readers. It’s a “change or die” situation. But I also understand that like a lot of movies and popular music, a lot of the new comics are simply not written for my taste. But I’ll read something like Love And Rockets #4 and it will absolutely blow me away and remind what I love about comics. So, I’m just being more discrimination these days in terms of what I read.

GM: How about your favorite heroine right now?

Madrid: I am really enjoying the new Batwoman series from DC. I was somewhat critical of the Batwoman character when I wrote Supergirls because I thought she was just DC’s token “lesbian” character.

That was before Greg Rucka’s Batwoman series where he turned her into a real flesh and blood character. He gave her Kate Kane alter ego an interesting backstory that worked in the US military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which I thought was smart. The new series takes up where Rucka left off in his Detective Comics run.

Both Batwoman and Kate Kane are tough, complex characters with a dark sense of humor. Batwoman doesn’t let Batman push her around, which I really like. We get to see Batwoman acting as a mentor to the younger heroine Flamebird, and this relationship is handled in a realistic way. Overall, the whole book feels modern to well-written to me. And the art is absolutely beautiful.

GM: If you could be any supergirl, which one would you choose? :)

Madrid: I’d love to say that I would want to be like Phoenix from the X-Men and have unlimited godlike powers. But I’m actually not that flashy. I would probably want to be someone like Saturn Girl from the Legion of Superheroes. She had mental powers, which have always been very attractive to me. She had a somewhat mean sense of humor, which I can relate to. Good costumes, which is key. She as smart, and she was the leader of her team. She called the shots, and she could always just screw around with her teammates’ minds if they tried to push her around. Works for me.

GM: Why do you think there’s a lack of superhero movies with female leads? There’s only one woman, Black Widow, as part of the Avengers and she’s definitely on the low-power side.

Madrid: I think we are in a strange period for entertainment where so much is focused on males. If you go to a multiplex and look at the posters of the new movies, the majority of them only feature the male stars, while the female stars are largely absent. The movie industry only invests in what makes money.

The industry seems to be so shocked when movies like Bridesmaids or The Help with predominantly female casts actually make money, because the assumption is that no one wants to see a movie about women. So, the studios are not going to invest in a Wonder Woman movie because they assume that the character is not popular enough to fill theaters.

Also, there is so much merchandising tied in to these superhero movies- toys, fast food, soft drinks, t-shirts, etc. Boys still will not buy merchandise with a female character on it because it’s thought to be for girls. And girls raised on a diet of Disney Princesses and Barbie may not find a strong female hero appealing.

I am a bit behind the curve and only recently finished watching the Showtime series The Tudors. It’s taken most of the summer, but I finally saw the last episode where crotchety old Henry VIII bids us adieu. Despite the series title, my favorite character wasn’t Henry, but his best friend, the Duke of Suffolk, played by Henry Cavill. I realized about halfway through that he was the actor who would also be playing Superman in the next movie and from that moment on, no matter how hard I tried, I kept seeing him in that famous cape and tights, complete with that silly little curlicue of hair that Christopher Reeve did best.

The first sneak peek of the new Superman costume has been out for awhile, but new set photos of The Man of Steel recently appeared on a Facebook page for the movie. It’s not the bright blue and red that I have been picturing in my head. In fact, the red trunks are completely gone. Even the cape is gone in some shots, but who knows what things will look in the actual movie. These are just shots from the set. Maybe there will be a CGI cape in some scenes and the absence of this crucial accessory isn’t really an issue. Maybe a bit of lighting and editing and this somewhat grungy, dark, not at all like previous incarnations suit will look just perfect and we’ll all be raving about it as we leave theaters. Maybe.

Not surprisingly, much of the internet is having a collective conniption over the latest costume images. People are crying foul about, well, everything. They hate it. It’s an atrocity. It’s destined to make the movie a failure. His muscles are too big. The suit is too dark. The cape, when it’s there, is way too big. How could they do something so clearly awful and misguided and, and, and…. it’s an endless anti-suit litany.

Now, it wasn’t too long ago that pictures of a certain other superhero surfaced and the internet had a very similar conniption. Anyone remember Wonder Woman? The costume she was supposed to wear in the television show that never actually made it to the air received a huge amount of hate from fans. There were even changes made along the way that seemed to take in to account some of the criticisms in an effort to make the costume more acceptable and presumably give the series half a chance. It didn’t work and good costume or bad, we won’t get to see Diana Prince fighting bad guys, deflecting bullets, and saving the world any time soon.

That leaves me thinking that, even if Superman’s costume isn’t perfect, even if there are those among us that say the movie is destined for failure because of it, do any of us really want to see that happen? Wouldn’t you rather hope that there’s a vision here that we can’t quite see, something that will become clear once we see the movie on the screen rather than in still shots from a set? I know I’m looking forward to the movie even if I’m not a big fan of the costume right now. I choose to be hopeful, but, costume issues aside, that missing curlicue of hair on his forehead is driving me nuts. I’d love to know what you guys think…

Was this picture the downfall of Wonder Woman? (Image: Justin Lubin/NBC)

The much criticized, much discussed David E. Kelley version of Wonder Women has been dropped by NBC.

There has been a lot of speculation and discussion about the new Wonder Woman television series that was in development. A few months ago there were quite a bit of drama over the new Wonder Woman costume that got the geek community up in arms.

But there hasn’t been much heard about this show since the costume was changed. But it was announced yesterday that NBC has decided not to move forward with this show.

You can read more about the demise of David E. Kelley’s Wonder Woman on EW.com.

Wonder Woman's new costume on the left (photo: Hollywood Reporter) and old costume on the right (photo: Justin Lubin, NBC)

It’s awesome that she now has pants that she can move in. The stars are a nice, patriotic touch. And, can we talk about the red boots? They make a world of difference.

To the commenters on my last post, I am in no way trying to doom the show with fangirl nitpicking. I just want it to be good, and the costume is a critical part of Wonder Woman. Part of me wonders if that first costume was never real, that NBC put it out as something for us all to be outraged about so when we saw the real thing we’d be relatively happy. If that’s the case, it totally worked. Adrianne Palicki really looks the part.

Yes, I did check the date to make sure it wasn’t April Fool’s day. It isn’t. And the earnestness with which EW reports on this… ahem… costume makes me think that this is really the costume you’re going with for the show. You do realize that Wonder Woman’s an Amazon, right? A warrior? A crime-fighting superhero? Someone who kicks a lot of butt needs a wardrobe to kick butt in. Cheap vinyl doesn’t have a lot of give. Plus, don’t you have a decent budget for this show? This costume looks like you bought it on sale out of a plastic bag in the slutty Halloween aisle.

DC Women Kicking Ass has done a bit of photoshop work to make this outfit slightly more palatable, but I know you can do even better than that. Look into your heart while you’re still in preproduction. Do a little search on this blog for “Wonder Woman” and you’ll find more than a few hits. We’re fans, OK? We’re the ones that can make your show a hit, or a cult classic. If it’s good, we’ll watch it, we’ll buy it, we’ll show our kids. Here’s my advice: Make Wonder Woman awesome and powerful, and you’ll make it past the pilot. Target only the male 18-34 demographic, and we will bury you with our contempt and lack of viewing.

Why not clear your week and watch a Buffy marathon? I think it will help.

The original Glamazon, Wonder Woman, has been the very definition of the sexy and strong heroine since her debut in 1941. As “beautiful as Aphrodite, wise as Athena, stronger than Hercules, and swifter than Mercury,” Wonder Woman is the ultimate supermodel superhero. So any collection bearing her name has a large bustier to fill.

Naturally with so much anticipation, and super-sized expectations, there was bound to be no shortage of opinions on this collection. Reaction to the line has been decidedly mixed with customers and reviewers for the most part falling firmly into “love it” and “hate it” categories.

Most of the criticisms regard a dislike for the plastic retro styling of the the packaging and pricing of these amazon sized products. While some vintage Wonder Woman lovers like the 70s styled look, others have pointed out that if you don’t like the packaging you may have little reason to invest in this collection. Additionally, astute makeup bloggers have pointed out that the pigment line up features a lot of “repeats” from MAC’s standard line and other recent collections.

Still these minor issues won’t deter die hard fans. And if your purse is big enough, an amazon sized compact of “Golden Lariat” bronzer might be just the secret super power you’ve been looking for.

If you’re interested in previewing the collection online before you buy. Check out these great YouTube reviews on the eyeshadows and lipsticks in the collection.

Wonder Woman, the Amazon warrior princess, defined female power decades before Xena became a pop-culture phenomenon. As beautiful as she is strong, Wonder Woman is also known for her extraordinary mental powers, including wisdom, profound scientific insight, and fluency in all languages, including Martian. (Who knew? A little quick research revealed she’s also been known to speak caveman.)

Given Wonder Woman’s seventy years of success, it’s no surprise NBC has green-lighted a four-hour pilot of a new TV series with David E. Kelley at the helm. In this contemporary remake, the Diana Prince character (Wonder Woman’s alter ego) is a crime fighter and corporate executive who juggles a complicated mix of common and extraordinary challenges.

The original Wonder Woman character was the brain child of three people, William Moulton Marston, his wife Elizabeth Marston, and his former student Olive Byrne. William Marston is given the “creator” credit and he scripted the first comics, but in his own writings he cites the two women in his life as primary sources and co-creators. (The three lived together with their children, in what many consider an unusual household.)

A trained psychologist, William Marston was explicit in his scholarly writings that women are more honest and reliable than men. His intention was to create a strong role model who would help his daughters and the capable women and girls he saw around him to find their own strength and rule a better world.

From the Uslan collection, housed at the Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington.

Interesting cocktail party tidbit: Wonder Woman’s Truth lasso, a.k.a. Lariat of Hestia, has an interesting antecedent. William Moulton developed the early polygraph machine.

Interesting cocktail party tidbit #2: Lyrics from the 1976 TV series intro: ” . . . Make a hawk a dove. Stop a war with love. Make a liar tell the truth.”

Interesting cocktail party tidbit #3: In Wonder Woman’s first 1941 comic book appearance she has a difference of opinion with the god of war, Mars, and she leaves Paradise Island to avert a conflict that he and his minions, the Nazis and Fascists, are stirring up. That’s right. Wonder Woman was an anti-war super hero from the beginning!

Kelley, the creator of the upcoming TV remake, is known for his unconventional characters. I hope his rendering is true to Wonder Woman’s noble roots and can serve as a healthy role-model for my 16-year-old daughter. (Note: Kelley’s current show, Harry’s Law, stars a 60-year-old cranky woman, played by Kathy Bates. Thumbs up! Ally McBeal, also created by Kelley, was popular, but her anorexic lawyer character misinformed a generation of girls about how to navigate a successful career.)

For some thoughts on how influential our fictional characters are, see the recent GeekMom review of Ink-Stained Amazons and Cinematic Warriors: Superwomen in Modern Mythology by Jennifer K. Stuller.

Highlights of Wonder Woman Lore:

1941 – First Wonder Woman Comic published by All Star Comics.
1942 – Wonder Woman moves to D.C. Comics.
1960 – In addition to her own title stories, she joins the Justice League.
1975 – W.W. is adapted in a made-for-TV movie.
1977 – She makes a TV series, starring Lynda Carter.
1980s-present – She appears in numerous video games that feature the Justice League.
1990s – She flounders in film development h—, in which various remakes are considered but rejected, including a story outline penned by Josh Whedon (Buffy, Serenity).
2007 – Gail Simone is assigned to write the D.C. Comics.
2009 – Successful direct-to-DVD animated feature made.
2011 – NBC green lights TV pilot with David E. Kelly at the helm.

GeekMom: Besides Wonder Woman, who would you pick as your favorite modern female pop culture role model? Why?

Jennifer K. Stuller: I would have to give you a “top five” – and it would include Wonder Woman, Buffy Summers, Mrs. Emma Peel, Sydney Bristow, and Modesty Blaise.

If I ever really had to narrow it down to one it would be Modesty. She is the most complex, sophisticated, skilled, and intelligent of all action heroines. As lovely as she is deadly, Modesty can be either a great friend or a shrewd adversary.

GM: Your bio says you knit. What is your latest project? What yarn are you using?

JKS: Ha! Yes, it does. I actually just picked up my needles this holiday season for the first time in a good long while. I made some garlands for the tree, and started making scarves for my cousin’s children as holiday gifts. They are big Husky fans, so I started one purple scarf with gold fringe and one gold scarf with purple fringe. Taking the fact that they were for boys both under the age of five, I used Encore yarn so they could easily be washed.

Of course, I started this project a week before the holiday and did not finish in time. So they can all expect a package in the near future!

GM: Do you have another book project on the horizon?

JKS: I might. (wink)

GM: Would you ever write about real female heroes in the same format as Ink Stained Amazons?

JKS: I would definitively write about real world female heroes – and have! And while I’d certainly love to write a book about them, it would likely present itself in a different format.

GM: Who is your favorite non-fictional heroine?

JKS: Gloria Steinem.

GM: Do you feel you need super powers to balance family, career, and extra activities (such as GeekGirlCon)?

JKS: It depends on how you define “super powers.” I think that believing in something, or being passionate about it, being able to recognize that the work/life balance is a practice, having patience, and knowing when to ask for help if you need it can be seen as super powers. And like any hero, having allies and a supportive partner helps!

Wonder Woman aka Diana Prince is actually Princess Diana of Themyscira. But wasn’t her status as a princess that made Diana the ambassador to the outside world. It’s her physical and mental toughness in a tournament that leads to her becoming a hero for all the world.

In other words, while she’s a princess, she’s also a warrior woman.

And this seems to be the template followed by most other superhero princesses.

They come from all over the Earth, from galactic kingdoms, and from far-flung fantasy worlds but none of them seem to be waiting for Prince Charming.

Instead, they’re all fierce defenders of their friends and their countries.

What I learned about super heroine princesses is that they will kick your butt, especially if you happen to be an evil overlord.

Amy believes that she is a normal teenage girl until she discovers that she’s actually a princess in hiding and is destined to rule the magical kingdom of Gemworld. Despite only being thirteen, Amy decides to use her new-found magical powers to combat the oppressive regime in her homeworld. She was a fierce defender of her people and at, the end of her comic, sacrificed herself to save her world. (Though she’s only mostly dead and has since guest-starred in several recent DC Comics.) Amethyst would be a perfect title character to attract young girls to the comic book audience, perhaps even produced in digest format. DC, are you paying attention?

In another popular title of the same time period, there were no less than four princesses in the cast, though I confess I only thought of two of them in those terms at the time.

When Marv Wolfman and George Perez revived the Teen Titans title in the 1980s as The New Teen Titans, they included Wonder Girl/Donna Troy, Princess Diana’s younger sister, Princess Koriand’r aka Starfire, an alien from the planet Tamaran, Raven, the only daughter of the demon lord Trigon, and Terra, younger sister of the Prince then King of Markovia.

Donna and Starfire definitely fall under the heading of warrior princesses. Starfire is even fiercer that the Amazons, if that’s possible. She’s passionate, righteous and loves battle as much as any warrior. Raven breaks that mold somewhat. She’s not warlike or aggressive and does’t even wish to be recognized as her evil father’s heir.

Terra is a foul-mouth cynical teenager that isn’t anyone’s vision of an ideal princess. They toned her down somewhat in the cartoon but in the original stories, she’s far more harsh.

Another Princess, later Queen, is Princess Projectra of Orlando, member of the Legion of Super-Heroes. When her planet is invaded by the Legion of Super-Villains and Projectra’s consort, Karate Kid, is murdered, Projectra responds by defeating their leader in single combat and then snapping his neck in retribution for her husband’s death.

A much sweeter Princess, Tora, is a former Justice League International member who was recently resurrected. She’ll defend her people with her powers but she’s also not above asking for a cup of hot cocoa when she comes back from the dead.

Over at Marvel, the kingdom of W’kanda is currently being guarded by Princess Shuri who has also inherited the mantle of the Black Panther from her brother. Do not cross her.

The current Black Panther

Similarly, be careful to stay on the good side of Namora and Namorita, cousins to Prince Namor of Atlantis. They’re just as powerful as their cousin and quicker to act in the defense of innocents.

In another of my favorite comics growing up, Marvel’s Micronauts, Princess Mari fought for the freedom of her people against the evil Baron Karza. Mari and her team eventually win and Karz is overthrown. She even wins the heart of the hero of the story, Commander Arcturus Rann.

And there is Empress Lilandra, who began as a supporting character in the X-Men. Lilandra and the X-Men’s leader, Charles Xavier, began an affair of the mind over galactic distances. At the time, Lilandra was trying to counter her evil brother, the current ruler of a galactic empire.

I’m sensing a bit of theme about princesses overthrowing evil rulers.

There’s also Power Princess of the Squadron Supreme, from a Marvel alternate universe. She’s an analogue of Wonder Woman but I’m not sure she qualifies for the “hero” part of superhero, though she’s certainly been on the right side sometimes.

I found this image of Omaka from Skaar, son of Hulk. She’s sworn to protect innocents and she’s got the cybernetic limbs to do it.

There is one series, Fables from Vertigo, DC’s mature adult line, that does feature the actual fairy tale princesses of legend, including Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. But these tales are more than a little bit fractured. Not stories to read to children.

And last but not least, I couldn’t write the article without mentioning the Killer Princesses. They’re not actual daughters-of-the-ruler type princesses but they are queens of a sorority and they’re also assassins and mercenaries for hire.

Okay, so they’re not heroes. But they do follow in the comic book tradition of princesses who are not only far more powerful than men but also completely willing to use that power.

For the past few months, I’ve been avidly following the DC Women Kicking Ass tumblr because it features some of the best commentary on women in comics along with great images from classic and modern stories.

During December, “Most Memorable Moments In DC History by Women” has been running weekly on the tumblr and the love and respect for these fictional heroines makes me smile. Followers offered suggestions for these moments and then they were gathered together so people could vote their favorites. Then, those favorites are featured in a showcase post.

So, go to the tumblr. Check out the memorable moments, which as of this writing were up to twenty.

If you don’t know much about DC heroines, this is a great place to start. If you do, it’s an excellent reminder of just how many great moments DC heroines have had.

P.S. Hint to DC: considering the Lois Lane love expressed by the journalists writing about her featured posts, perhaps she should get a series again. Only this time, call it Lois Lane, Investigative Journalist not Superman’s Girlfriend, Lois Lane.

Writing Style: Jennifer uses a very conversational yet professional and intelligent tone to share the plethora of female superheros in an extensive timeline. The flow of the book is very natural as Jennifer shares decades of examples of strong female characters.

Content: I knew about half of the characters discussed in the book and learned about just as many more. If you are curious about the iconic characters discussed, Jennifer is kind enough to list them in a glossary at the end of the book. Also appreciated, not only are the fictional female characters discussed, but also the people who created them.

Pertinent: In a society where we are bombarded with various forms of media and entertainment, it is nice to be able to glean positive examples of female characters from pop-culture for our daughters, nieces, granddaughters, and even ourselves.

I highly recommend adding this book to your holiday shopping list to give to the Wonder Woman in your life.

I am a comic book newbie. The extent of my super hero knowledge is from recent movie adaptations. Of course, the artist in me is occasionally drawn to the art of the ink, or the unique story. But, for the most part, comic books are down the list of things I geek out over. Until recently…

I attended Wonder Woman Day, at Excalibur Comics, in Portland, Oregon. Wonder Woman Day is an event, produced by Bradley Angle, to raise money for domestic violence programs. Excalibur teams with Comic Fusion in Flemington, New Jersey. This is the 5th year for the event, that is regularly scheduled for the last Sunday in October.

When my husband and I arrived at the event with our two kids in tow, we didn’t know what to expect. I had read the website and poster, but didn’t recognize anyone except the Cloud City Garrison. I took my camera hoping to get a few fitting photographs to share with you.

My favorite moment of the day was when the Greatest American Hero sang Believe It Or Not. My daughter looked at me quizzically as I wiped a tear from my eye from laughing so hard. I am glad we attended. My daughter was not ready to leave (considering we would like to take her to Emerald City and PAX next year, I am glad she had fun with this short geeky venture), and I am ready to attend again next year!

I’ve been a mom for only a couple of years. I’ve been a geek for far longer.

In terms of generally geeking out over things, I’ve always been a geek — particularly a word geek. Reading, writing, crossword puzzles, linguistics studies, foreign languages — I’m all over that. In high school, I took two years of Latin just so I could learn more about English word origins. M-W.com is one of my most-used bookmarks. And of all my friends and associates, I’m the most likely to know whether the correct phrase is “butt naked” or “buck naked.” (Both are acceptable, actually, although the the latter is slightly preferred, unless you’re from Texas, like me, in which case it’s always “buck nekkid.”)

Over the years, I’ve also become an ardent fan of science fiction authors like Robert Heinlein and Linnea Sinclair, gotten completely addicted to World of Warcraft (currently in recovery), and participated in a couple of alternate reality games (I Love Bees, anyone?). I also have an endless fascination with superhero stories, from Wonder Woman to X-Men to Kick-Ass.

By day, I work in marketing as a web strategist. By night, I write novels, often about people with superpowers. Day and night, I’m the mom of a preschooler and the wife of a guy I met online way back in 1991, before there was much “online” to speak of. As my son gets older, I’m looking forward to reviving my love of Lego bricks, exploring the ins and outs of geocaching, and, I suspect, learning to build robots.

DC, in its infinite wisdom, has decided to celebrate its 75th anniversary this year without including any super heroines in its 75th anniversary logo (see below right).

DC 75th Anniversary Logo

The logo includes Flash, Superman, Batman, and Green Lantern… but not Wonder Woman. Some female comic fans have already petitioned DC about this injustice. The Zazzle store that is selling the anniversary merchandise does have a Supergirl and a Wonder Woman section, but a quick look at the Justice League section once again reveals an all-male club.

I would love a female Justice League t-shirt. Even more, I would love aBirds of Prey t-shirt. Get with it Warner Brothers marketing!

So, in a small attempt to correct this injustice, I made a list of my favorite DC heroines. This is not necessarily a list of the most popular or the most well-known heroines.

They simply happen to be the ones I like best and, definitely at least one of them is very obscure.

1. Black Canary
Canary dates back all the way to 1947, the Golden Age of comics, and is one of those rare female heroines that’s not a spin-off of a male hero. The original Canary took up crime fighting because she wasn’t allowed to be a police officer like her father. The current character (after much ret-conning and time/earth crises) is now Dinah Laurel Lance, the daughter of the original.

Unlike most heroines on my list, Dinah has a super-power: the sonic scream. Her sonic cry can shatter buildings and take down more powerful villains, as seen recently in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold television show. But she relies mainly on hand-to-hand combat skills honed through years of training to protect herself.

I’d been reading Canary stories in the Justice League of America for years growing up. I liked her fine but it wasn’t until she received a starring role in Birds of Prey that I went truly fangirl over Canary.

She’s tough, she’s sweet, she’s funny, and she’s incredibly loyal. DC hasn’t seemed to know what to do with her in the last few years, trying to put in a comic with her sweetheart, Green Arrow. This was a creative failure, at least to me, but she’s back in the revamped Birds of Prey now and I couldn’t be happier.

2. Lois Lane
Lois really needs no introduction.

No, she’s not a costumed hero.

I don’t care. I love Lois Lane. I love her because the most important single characteristic about Lois is that she loves her job, and when it comes to that job she’s one of the best in the world. Sure, there were some Golden/Silver Age stories with her swooning and fighting over Superman’s love, but by the time I picked up her stories — in the early to late 1970s — theyfocused on adventures relating to her job, not romance.

And because of the focus on Lois Lane doing her job, it delivered a radical message. Yes, you can have a life of adventure and a really cool job — plus an excellent boyfriend in Superman. You can have it all. It’s no coincidence I grew up and became a reporter.

3. Barbara Gordon, aka Batgirl and then Oracle
I was first introduced to Barbara Gordon aka Batgirl via the Batman television show. She wore leather — it looked like leather anyway — she rode a motorcycle. She kicked butt. She even had a theme song. She was awesome and was quickly in the comics.

Barbara has undergone major changes since she was first introduced. She gave up being Batgirl because, I guess, DC editorial wasn’t sure what to do with her.

Then she was crippled by the Joker in Alan Moore’s The Killing Joke. Moore has made statements that he never intended this story to be in continuity — meaning he didn’t think the events would stick. But they did and Barbara ended up in a wheelchair. She might have been forgotten if not for the efforts of the late Kim Yale and her husband, John Ostrander, who reintroduced Babs as the mysterious figure known as Oracle in the Suicide Squad series.

She’s been Oracle, computer expert and information specialist, even since. Birds of Prey was originally conceived as a vehicle for Oracle and Black Canary, though the team roster has expanded since them. (Sense a theme? Yes, if you’re not reading Birds of Prey, you should be.)

4. Stephanie Brown aka Spoiler aka Batgirl
Another Batman universe character, Stephanie Brown was originally supposed to be a one-shot guest character in a Batman book. Her origin is much like Marvel’s Runaways: her parent is a super villain. Stephanie originally donned a costume and called herself “The Spoiler” to spoil the crimes of her father, the Cluemaster. She’s been through considerable changes since then. She was Robin briefly, then dead for a while, leading to a group of irate readers to create the Girl Wonder website, then her creator, Chuck Dixon, brought her back, and now she’s starring in an excellent new Batgirl series as the lead character.

I guess that makes two Batgirls on the list. Another theme.

5. Wonder Woman aka Princess Diana
Yes, many comic fans would put her at the top of any list of female DC heroines. I’m a far more recent convert. I preferred The Bionic Woman over the Wonder Woman television show. I didn’t collect any Wonder Woman comics growing up. I’m not sure why she didn’t appeal to me. Part of it is that she seemed too powerful, the same reason Superman wasn’t a favorite. I read his comics for his supporting cast. But Wonder Woman’s cast seemed to change all the time and I could never get a handle on her.

Until, that is, when Gail Simone, a favorite writer of mine since her Birds of Prey work, took over Wonder Woman’s book. Suddenly, the Amazon princess made far more sense to me. I waxed poetic about the stories in an earlier article on GeekMom called Revisiting the Amazon.

6. Night Girl
Lydda Jath is probably the most obscure character on this list. She’s from the long-running Legion of Super-Heroes comic but she’s not a Legionnaire. Rather, she’s a member of the Legion of Substitute Heroes because her powers only work during the nighttime. Hence, her code name.

What I like about Night Girl is the same thing I like about Stephanie. Both of them have limited abilities and have been told that they can’t make much of a difference as a hero. Both reject this notion and do their best anyway. In the one story that made me a firm and lifelong fan of Lydda, she’s determined to patrol and stop a crime, even if it means operating during daytime, when she no longer has super-strength. In the Legion series I best remember, Lydda’s boyfriend was Cosmic Boy, one of the founders of the Legion and its steadiest member. They were married eventually in that continuity but with all the reboots and re-appearances, it’s unclear where Night Girl or the relationship stands now.

But I think, given her night powers, she’d made a great lead character for a vampire hunter series set in the Legion’s time. Night Girl versus the Space Vampires? Perfect.

7. Starfire-Koriand’r
She’s an alien princess from a world with no inhibitions. She’s survived slavery and betrayal and still keeps her essential sunny nature. And she’s in love with Robin (Dick Grayson).

Perfect all around.

Starfire was created for the Teen Titans revival by Marv Wolfman and George Perez. She’s an incredible bundle of energy who is never afraid to speak her mind; she’s possessed of super-strength, she can fly as well as fire energy bursts, and she is great at hand-to-hand combat. A great many male creators tend to over-sexualize her (which, really, I didn’t think was possible) but at her best, Princess Koriand’r is a confident, sexy woman, loyal to her friends and who loves fighting.

For me, it didn’t hurt that her nickname, Kory, is the same as my nickname. Albeit spelled differently.

8. Helena Wayne aka Huntress
Back to the Batman Universe. Helena Wayne is from an alternate comic book dimension called Earth-2. More, she’s the daughter of the reformed Catwoman and Batman of that world. That alone might make it her destiny to put on a cape and cowl; but young Helena instead studied as a lawyer until the day her mother was killed as a result of blackmail and her father gave up being Batman forever.

Huntress was born to fill the void. She’s determined to carry on her father’s legacy to make the world a better place.

Unfortunately, Helena doesn’t exist in the current DC Universe continuity. You can read most of her adventures in this trade, Huntress: Dark Knight Daughter.

A slightly altered version of Helena made it into the Birds of Prey television show, called Helena Kyle. In that series, Helena’s parents had never married and her father had basically been a deadbeat dad, leading this daughter of Batman and Catwoman down a very cynical road. One of the many reasons I never warmed to the show.

9. Helena Bertinelli aka Huntress
All three current members of the Birds of Prey make my list. If I was making a longer list, it would also include Zinda, Lady Blackhawk, the team’s pilot.

It took me a long time to warm to Helena Bertinelli. I was still a little bitter about losing the character of Helena Wayne and didn’t particularly want to follow a different take on Huntress. What won me over was her appearances in the Robin series. Huntress, as written by Chuck Dixon, seemed far more well-rounded to me than just an angry woman with a crossbow, which was my original take.

She’s also a school teacher, she had a good rapport with her students. That added another dimension to her character for me. She’s still impetuous and still the most likely to consider killing in self-defense a valid crime-fighting technique, but I’ve come to love her honesty and her loyalty.

10. Dian Belmont
Dian never had a costume or a superpower. She co-starred in a Vertigo series from the 1990s called Sandman Mystery Theatre as the partner and eventual lover of the main character, Wesley Dodds aka the Sandman.

What I love about Dian is that she’s a woman trying to figure out her own path during a time period, the 1930s, when choices for women were so very limited. She doesn’t know if she wants to settle down and marry. And if she doesn’t want to be a wife and mother, she’s not entirely sure what she does want. But she knows what she doesn’t want to do, which is sit back and let life happen to her.

She initially gets involved in Wesley’s crime solving in an attempt to be useful and later discovers his double life. There’s a lot of push/pull in their relationship until she finally comes to terms with who she is and what she wants her future to be like. In her last appearance, as an elderly woman, she’s a successful and famous mystery novelist, still with Wesley, and very pleased with the way her life turned out. We should all be so lucky.

Not that I’m dissing it. I loved the Lynda Carter to Wonder Woman twirl when I was a kid. But while Superman and Batman have undergone extensive revitalization since the 1970s, Wonder Woman hasn’t received a similar reworking of her image to the public at large. Most still remember the 70s TV version more than anything else.

That may be changing. DC has made an effort to get a new version of Wonder Woman into the public eye, beginning with hiring New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult to write a story arc in the latest comic relaunch and they invested in an animated movie this spring.

Unfortunately, both those efforts fell short. The animated movie has some interesting elements but to me, it missed the one essential component of Wonder Woman, which is her compassion.

And while Picoult’s run was a good effort, it was marred by a badly done company-wide crossover. Even worse, the relaunch of the Wonder Woman title under Picoult and popular comic writer Allan Heinberg pushed a run by Greg Rucka, popular among comic readers, completely to the side.